Jan Chozen Bays, MD, is an ordained Zen teacher and a pediatrician who specialized for thirty years in the evaluation of children for abuse and neglect. She has trained in Zen for forty-five years, with Roshis Taizan Maezumi and Shodo Harada Roshi. With her husband, Hogen Bays, she serves as co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery, a residential center for intensive Zen training in Clatskanie, Oregon.

She has published articles in the medical literature, and articles about Zen in Tricycle and Buddhadharma magazines. She is the author of six books published by Shambhala including:

• Mindful Eating: A Guide to Rediscovering a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food (translated into ten languages),
• How to Train a Wild Elephant and Other Adventures in Mindfulness,
• The Vow Powered Life: Simple Methods for Living Life on Purpose,
• Jizo Bodhisattva: Guardian of Children, Women and Other Voyagers
• Mindful Medicine: 40 Simple Practices to Help Healthcare Professionals Heal Burnout and Reconnect to Purpose.

Inspired by the work of the FaithTrust Institute she has been working for over 25 years on prevention of, and intervention in, situations of misconduct by Buddhist teachers.